What to Plant in Iowa in May
Iowa’s planting calendar turns on soil temperature, not the calendar page. Statewide frost data puts the last spring freeze between April 12 and April 24…
Gardening in Iowa
Everything we have worked out for Iowa: what to plant and when, which varieties finish in time, the pests that actually turn up here, and the jobs that pay off month by month. We also cover the rest of the property, from lawns and soil to home care and energy, because a garden rarely stops at the vegetable bed.
The numbers first, because everything else follows from them. Measured at the weather station in Des Moines, the last spring freeze runs April 12 to April 24 and the first fall freeze runs October 14 to October 25, USDA zones 4b-6a, 3,659 growing degree days in the year.
Garlic does well: 21.8 weeks below 40 °F, comfortably past the six it needs to form a proper head.
Elsewhere on the property in Iowa: the pests that turn up here.
Figures from NOAA's 1991-2020 climate normals. A state is not one climate: elevation, a large lake or the coast can move these dates by two weeks either way, so check your own county with the extension service before you spend money.
What to Plant in Iowa in March
Direct-sow peas, spinach, and onion sets only once the soil can be worked, not by the calendar. Garlic and shallots still go in where ground isn’t frozen.
What to Plant in Iowa in June
By June, Iowa’s growing season is wide open. The state’s last spring frost window, April 12 to April 24, is long past, and soil has warmed enough for…
What to Plant in Iowa in July
July in Iowa sits well past the last spring frost and well ahead of the first fall one, so the answer is straightforward: keep the summer garden…
What to Plant in Iowa in January
Nothing goes into open ground in Iowa in January. Soil across the state is frozen solid, often to a depth of a foot or more, and the last spring frost…
What to Plant in Iowa in February
February gives Iowa gardeners almost nothing to plant outdoors. The state spans USDA Hardiness Zones 4b to 6a, and most counties carry frozen or…
What to Plant in Iowa in December
The direct answer: in December, Iowa’s ground is frozen solid across nearly the whole state, and nothing gets planted outdoors.
What to Plant in Iowa in August
Iowa’s August garden runs on two clocks at once: fast-maturing crops still going into open ground before the first week or two closes out, and…
What to Plant in Iowa in April
April in Iowa is the hinge month: cold-hardy crops go into the ground while warm-season plants stay indoors until the frost risk clears.
Growing Peppers in Iowa: Fruit Set, Heat and Timing
Peppers set fruit reliably across most of an Iowa season, but two temperature edges can shut flowering down without warning: a stretch of days near or…